School News: Creating a Campus Master Plan in Tennessee
Winter 2020
Usually the head, board of trustees, and administrators are charged with building and implementing a campus master plan. But at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School (TN) this past spring, students played a part in assessing the natural resources on the school’s 550-acre campus as part of a final, cross-disciplinary project, “Natural Resource Assessment and Campus Master Plan Impact Report.” The project grew out of a collaboration between science and technology teachers who had a desire to more closely align their courses with the school’s mission to foster resourcefulness by engaging in real-world work.
To begin the five-week project, seventh graders reviewed geometry, measuring, unit conversion, and mapping skills. They assessed predominant land cover types in each zone and researched environmental issues affecting those landscapes. Students then developed a master chart of areas needing protection with rationales rooted in environmental science. They cross-referenced their chart with the campus master plan and focused on three areas that could be impacted by new construction: forests on the central campus, Gunn Lake, and the upland plateau wetland near the proposed rerouting of the main road. They then researched and recommended modifying plans for the proposed building sites.
The school’s theater teacher worked with students on presentation skills, and they presented their findings to administrators and trustees, who are now finalizing the building plans and using the students’ report.
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